Led by Artistic Director & Founder, Lyn Williams AM, the ensembles of Gondwana Choirs have inspired audiences across Australia and around the world.
For over 30 years, the Sydney Children’s Choir has pushed the boundaries of artistic possibility. Its commitment to new music, often daring and challenging, is at the heart of the ensemble. Recent commissions include Only I by Nico Muhly and I am Martuwarra by Paul Stanhope, as well as a suite of pieces by Sam Weiss. In 2022, the choir premiered a new theatrical work, Hypnopompia, a collaboration with director Alexander Berlage.
Gondwana National Choirs bring together young singers from across the country and represent Australia on the world stage. In 2019, Gondwana Voices travelled to Berlin to perform Brett Dean’s Vexations and Devotions with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. This choir was invited to represent Australia at the 2020 World Symposium on Choral Music.
Based in Cairns, the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir has a commitment to commissioning new choral music incorporating First Nations language and story in collaboration with cultural custodians. Recently, films of the choir singing these pieces on Country have shared this work to a wider audience. In July 2022, they gave the premiere performance of Of the Earth by William Barton with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Simone Young for the reopening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.
From the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir, Marliya was first formed to appear in Felix Riebl’s Spinifex Gum. Marliya has since performed at the Adelaide, Perth and Sydney Festivals, WOMAdelaide, at Dreamtime at the G and the Garma Festival. 2022 engagements include Byron Bay BluesFest, a new symphonic version of Spinifex Gum with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Desert Song Festival in Alice Springs.
In 2019, Gondwana Choirs celebrated its 30th anniversary with the Gondwana World Choral Festival, which brought the world’s finest children’s choirs to Sydney for a week of 21 performances at the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Conservatorium of Music, broadcast on ABC Classic.
